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Machida Foreigner Sports Groups?
if you're near the south exit of machida station, there's a small sports bar called "sports cafe kaz" that has a bulletin board covered in handwritten pickup game invites. the owner's a retired tennis coach and he'll literally introduce u to regulars who play weekday evenings at the tsurukawa courts. it's more reliable than the exchange center imo, those meetups cancel half the time. also for basketball, the yokohama international pool across the border in midori ward has an open gym friday nights, cheaper than machida city gym at 200 yen and the crowd skews a bit younger, lots of foreign teachers from the nearby english schools. just bring your own ball, they barely have working ones.
skip the base if u dont have a car, the bus timing from machida station is brutal for evening games. better bet is the yomiuri land area, the tennis courts there have a night league that runs till 10pm and theyre always short on doubles partners. its a 15 min bus from machida but the bus stop is right at the court entrance. for bball, the tokyo metropolitan gymnasium in fuchu is a bit of a haul but they have a wednesday night pickup that draws a lot of working guys from the tech offices along the keio line, and the level is decent without being tryhard. also check the machida ymca, they do a saturday morning mixed sports thing that includes both tennis and bball, but its more social than competitive, good for meeting people who actually live in the area.
harunaso friday is solid but let me add one thing nobody mentioned, the machida city gym has a pickup bball night on sunday evenings that flies under the radar, less crowded than tuesday thursday, and the regulars tend to play longer games since nobody's rushing home for work the next day. for tennis, the tsurukawa courts have a whatsapp group that's way more active than the facebook one, some guy named takashi runs it and he posts open slots every afternoon, u just reply to claim a spot, takes like 30 seconds. also check the b1 floor of machida loft, there's a bulletin board by the escalator where the tennis federation posts last minute cancellation slots for the gion courts, saves u the 800 yen booking fee if u grab one.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.